Eade sacking a lapdog approach

[Sedat]

http://wwos.ninemsn.com.au/blog.aspx?blogentryid=861180&showcomments=true

Nailed it in one GT. Nothing more to add.

[LostDoggy]

http://wwos.ninemsn.com.au/blog.aspx?blogentryid=861180&showcomments=true

Nailed it in one GT. Nothing more to add.

There is a lot more to add.

Leaving the decision not to renew Eade's contract aside, I want to take issue with Thomas' assertion that the position of Football Manager should be made redundant with the coach reporting directly to the board.

This assumes that the functions of Recruiting, List Management, Sports Sciences, Strength and Conditioning etc whould all come under the Head Coach. This is ridiculous and out of step with modern thinking It is a step back to the role Rodney undertook when he first arrived at the Bulldogs and it nearly killed him.

There is nothing wrong with the structure currently employed at the Bulldogs and most other Clubs; the important issue is having competent people in the relevant positions.

This is just another Thomas rant.

[Maddog37]

"GT" is an arrogant opinionated leach. He has no agenda other than to drum up readership and the only way to achieve that is to be outspoken and controversial.

There is a very good reason Thomas is no longer involved with any club and that is because he is a scurrilous attention whore.

[Sedat]

He nailed the source of Rocket's demise in one.

Your comments about the workload nearly killing Rocket in 2007 are spot on. There absolutely needs to be a head of football operations, but we have proven that such an appointment can go horribly wrong if the right person is not appointed.

Fantasia is not fit to clean the boots of some of his contemporaries, like Geoff Walsh and Neil Balme.

[LostDoggy]

I believe the head coach should answer directly to the board. The coach should then employ someone below him handle recruiting, list management stuff, etc.
Then we won't have this ridiculous situation where only the coach pays incorrect decisions and the person making the bad calls shifts the blame onto coach.

[GVGjr]

I think it's the reporting lines that GT is challenging and I tend to agree with it. A coach of Eade's experience is not served well by reporting to the inexperienced Fantasia.

It was uneasy relationship between Eade and Rose that was the catalyst for the Fantasia and for the first year he picked up the tasks that Eade found to be time consuming but over the last 2 years I don't think Fantasia has added a lot of value.

Hopefully the microscope will now be place on Fantasia.

[Ghost Dog]

I think it's the reporting lines that GT is challenging and I tend to agree with it. A coach of Eade's experience is not served well by reporting to the inexperienced Fantasia.

It was uneasy relationship between Eade and Rose that was the catalyst for the Fantasia appointment and for the first year he picked up the tasks that Eade found to be time consuming but over the last 2 years I don't think Fantasia has added a lot of value.

Hopefully the microscope will now be placed on Fantasia.

Agree with above ^^

[Go_Dogs]

Hopefully the microscope will now be placed on Fantasia.

I think your whole assessment was spot on.

Brisbane appear quite interested, but I really hope we have a chat to Neil Craig about this role.

Who are some of the other candidates who might be a good fit for us?

[LostDoggy]

Bullshit article. Don't know why GT's still given inches.

[LostDoggy]

I think it's the reporting lines that GT is challenging and I tend to agree with it. A coach of Eade's experience is not served well by reporting to the inexperienced Fantasia.

It was uneasy relationship between Eade and Rose that was the catalyst for the Fantasia and for the first year he picked up the tasks that Eade found to be time consuming but over the last 2 years I don't think Fantasia has added a lot of value.

Hopefully the microscope will now be place on Fantasia.

There is nothing wrong with the reporting lines. The role of a Football Manager is widely accepted throughout the competition and makes good business sense. I will say it again, there is nought wrong with the structure, the issue is the calibre of people occupying the positions.

Eade has been held responsible for roles conducted outside his jurisdiction namely List Manager and Football Manager. In the case of List Manager, we don't have one and the Football Manager is Fantasia.

If we had competent staff filling these positions, Eade would be coaching tomorrow.

[Scraggers]

I think it's the reporting lines that GT is challenging and I tend to agree with it. A coach of Eade's experience is not served well by reporting to the inexperienced Fantasia.

It was uneasy relationship between Eade and Rose that was the catalyst for the Fantasia and for the first year he picked up the tasks that Eade found to be time consuming but over the last 2 years I don't think Fantasia has added a lot of value.

Hopefully the microscope will now be place on Fantasia.


There is nothing wrong with the reporting lines. The role of a Football Manager is widely accepted throughout the competition and makes good business sense. I will say it again, there is nought wrong with the structure, the issue is the calibre of people occupying the positions.

Eade has been held responsible for roles conducted outside his jurisdiction namely List Manager and Football Manager. In the case of List Manager, we don't have one and the Football Manager is Fantasia.

If we had competent staff filling these positions, Eade would be coaching tomorrow.

I agree with both of you, particularly the bolded parts.

[Remi Moses]

What I find amusing in all this is the short memory Thomas has!
This is a bloke who did player contracts, list management, and basically tried to run the club himself.
As for Fantasia, I agree probably has a "Lap Dog" role, but rather a lap dog than a tin pot dictator any time.
As for Smorgon I'd say he's been a bit better than basically a "supporter":rolleyes:
Then he ads he's had "issues" with Eade's coaching. Then waffles on about him being a capable coach:rolleyes:You either think He's no good or you think he's good Grant?
Wakeley award stuff this Grant!:eek:

[Remi Moses]

There is nothing wrong with the reporting lines. The role of a Football Manager is widely accepted throughout the competition and makes good business sense. I will say it again, there is nought wrong with the structure, the issue is the calibre of people occupying the positions.

Eade has been held responsible for roles conducted outside his jurisdiction namely List Manager and Football Manager. In the case of List Manager, we don't have one and the Football Manager is Fantasia.

If we had competent staff filling these positions, Eade would be coaching tomorrow.

Agree with this^^

[Twodogs]

Thomas is on his favorite hobby horse again. It must be an exhilarating view from up there. It certainly gets in the way of everything else.

I dont know whether to start another thread on this topic but did anyone hear Terry Wallace on SEN yesterday and his list of things we need to do?

I wont go through the whole list but #1 was to appoint a list manager pronto. I tend to agree with him on this. We need to assess our list and get a clear idea on our direction right now and then appoint a senior coach with that goal in mind.

[strebla]

Thomas is on his favorite hobby horse again. It must be an exhilarating view from up there. It certainly gets in the way of everything else.

I dont know whether to start another thread on this topic but did anyone hear Terry Wallace on SEN yesterday and his list of things we need to do?

I wont go through the whole list but #1 was to appoint a list manager pronto. I tend to agree with him on this. We need to assess our list and get a clear idea on our direction right now and then appoint a senior coach with that goal in mind.

We should have had a list manager two years ago but it could not be budgeted for but will be next year the new coach should have a few more dollars in the footy department.Its a shame Rocket wasn't given the support he deserved with what he had he has done wonders at our club and will leave a gaping wound that may well fester for a bloody long time!!!

[mjp]

It is an interesting article and the whole 'who runs the football dept' question is one that plagues clubs at all levels. If you follow the NFL closely, you would well understand the continual debate that is held between 'TSAR' type coaches who also have full authority over player personnel decisions (think Parcells anywhere, Shanahan in Washington (and in Denver I guess), Holmgren in Seattle) vs other scenarios where a GM oversees personnel and is clearly in charge of the coach (Polian in Indy, Thompson in GB) and others still where a true 'partnership' model seems to be in place (Colbert/Tomlin in Pittsburgh)....

You will notice that teams in each of the three categories I have mentioned have had success and won SuperBowls - no model is really better than any other - but, as Thomas started off his article, solidarity is the key.

The interesting thing about his point is he dilutes it himself - if there IS solidarity (which he says is the key), then having a coach nominally report to a FM who manages all of the reporting to the board/ceo etc would not be a problem...after all, everyone in the footy dept is on the same page so no problem. But when/if relationships fracture - trouble.

Interestingly, Thomas reported direct to the Saints board and the relationship he had with the (then) president dissolved leading to his dismissal...back to his original point, if you cannot maintain effective working relationships with those around you then the club is doomed regardless of the departmental structure.

[boydogs]

if you cannot maintain effective working relationships with those around you then the club is doomed regardless of the departmental structure.

Relationships are never perfect, structure is an important framework for how they operate

[Topdog]

Working relationships are obviously never perfect but the structure no matter how good it is will always fail if there is no trust and respect.

[Ghost Dog]

Is fantasia an ex player?

[azabob]

Is fantasia an ex player?

Unsure of his playing career but this is his admin career.


2007: General Manager, Game Development - South Australian National Football League

1995-2006: Recruiting Manager - Adelaide Football Club

1991-1995: State Development Director - South Australian National Football League

1993-1999: State of Origin Football Manager (Honorary Position) - South Australian National Football League

1988-1991: Technical and Development Manager - Norwood Football Club

[bornadog]

Unsure of his playing career but this is his admin career.


2007: General Manager, Game Development - South Australian National Football League

1995-2006: Recruiting Manager - Adelaide Football Club

1991-1995: State Development Director - South Australian National Football League

1993-1999: State of Origin Football Manager (Honorary Position) - South Australian National Football League

1988-1991: Technical and Development Manager - Norwood Football Club

That is an impressive CV.

[azabob]

That is an impressive CV.

When you read it all together like that yes it is.

I know he and Eade had only a "working relationship" and it was by the sounds of it getting worse by the day.

Eade and Rose also had issues, apparently Eade and Rose's relationship started to repair once Fantasia came on board.

Wonder if the strained relationship between Eade and his bosses (Rose / Fantasia) mainly to do with the lack of spending on the football department or was there other clashes?

I guess we will never know.

[FrediKanoute]

Interestingly, Thomas reported direct to the Saints board and the relationship he had with the (then) president dissolved leading to his dismissal...back to his original point, if you cannot maintain effective working relationships with those around you then the club is doomed regardless of the departmental structure.

This is the cancer the club failed to eliminate. It spread leading to the sacking of Eade. That's a leadership issue.

One thing which concerns me is Garlick as CEO. We went from Rose and experienced CEO to Garlick, an executive manager with no CEO experience. That spells trouble. In strong organisations this scenario can work, becsause the systems and structures exist to prevent the CEO from f*cking it all up. The Bulldogs historically ahve never had this. It wasn't until the Rose era that we were even close to being professional at a management level. We talk about the Rhodes era as the cheap as chips coach option, not sure on Garlick's salary, but I get the impression that our current CEO may also have been a little like this.

[LostDoggy]

Is fantasia an ex player?

Played with Norwood